Theme park facing fine of up to £2.5m over tragedy
HEALTH AND SAFETY BODY ALLEGES ‘CONSTELLATION’ OF ORGANISATIONAL FAILINGS
A THEME park is facing a fine of up to £2.5 million for “organisational” safety failings after an 11-year-old girl’s death on its water rapids ride, a court heard.
Evha Jannath, from Belgrave, Leicester, was “propelled” from a vessel on the Splash Canyon river rapids ride at Drayton Manor, in Staffordshire, during a school trip with friends from Jameah Girls Academy, in the city, on May 9, 2017.
A coroner hearing an inquest last summer raised six “matters of concern” relating to health and safety procedures before publishing a report to other theme park operators highlighting the issues in December.
After the incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Drayton Manor Park Ltd would be prosecuted for a breach of health and safety law.
During a hearing at Cannock Magistrates’ Court yesterday, barristers for the theme park – which is now in administration – indicated it would enter a guilty plea to the single charge it faces, under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The charge relates to a failure to ensure the safety of park guests.
Giving an outline of the case against Drayton Manor, HSE barrister Ben Mills said Evha was “jolted” into the water, before falling while trying to climb a “conveyor belt” which took boats to the exit.
“It appears she fell from the structure, at some point,” he said. “She sustained a significant chest injury.
“The depth of the water there was beyond her head height and she tragically drowned.”
Mr Mills said the accident was caused by a “constellation” of safety failures, including “inadequate” signage for those on the ride, “inadequate training” for staff, “an element of understaffing” and “a lack of emergency planning”, while static CCTV “only covered 50 per cent of the course”.
Mr Mills said: “The failures were at an organisational level and not levelled at the individuals seeking on the day, no doubt, to do their very best.”
He said Drayton Manor’s latest accounts showed it turned over about £24 million in 2019, providing a possi
ble starting point for any fine of £950,000, “with a range of £600,000 to £2.5 million”.
But he said it would be for the court “to consider whether that should increase substantially to reflect the fact that it was the cause of a death”. Richard Matthews QC, representing Drayton Manor, said: “The prosecution’s allegations of the extent of the failures and nature of them are something that isn’t necessarily all agreed.” He said the allegations would be subject to a more detailed basis of plea, to be submitted to the courts before any sentencing.
“It is likely that any sentencing court will have to grapple, in the usual way, with those issues,” he said.
Mr Mills told the court that Drayton Manor Park Ltd had gone into administration since Evha’s death, and that it was “imperative” any sentencing happened before the company was formally dissolved. Both the prosecution and defence also asked for the case to be adjourned to a higher court to “reflect the public interest and seriousness of this matter”. Agreeing with the application, District Judge Gregor committed the case for sentencing to be heard in the new year at Stafford Crown Court.
Last year, an inquest heard that Evha drowned. A jury concluded she had suffered an accidental death. Evha’s death led to a letter being sent out to all theme parks warning them about the importance of monitoring young people on theme park rides.
The court was told that Drayton Manor Park Ltd had gone into administration since Evha’s death